The readings from Zechariah and the Psalms tells us about the promised savior, the Messiah.In the verses leading up to Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the followers of John the Baptist who were waiting for God to fulfill that promise.Jesus makes it clear that he is the one that John spoke about, the one that fulfills that promise.

But in that same lead-in to the Gospel, Jesus also calls into question their ideas about what the Messiah will be like.Why?Because Jesus knows that he is not the Messiah they were expecting.

In the first half of Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus shows us that choosing people like Peter and Paul (see last Sunday) is no accident.Jesus also makes it clear that he is the Messiah God intended, not the one that people expected.More on the Gospel tomorrow.